Resolutions

The new year is upon us and with it come millions of resolutions to eat healthier, lose weight, and get in shape. A great way to attract new customers to your food truck is to make sure your menu contains resolution-friendly items. Even if they wind up ordering your more decadent dishes, diners with good intentions to eat more healthfully are likely to decide where to take their business based on the options you make available.

To get you started, here are a few ideas for adding healthy items to your menu while keeping your food costs in check and your restaurant’s personality front and center:

Consider alternative proteins

You don’t have to start serving up tofu if you don’t already – there are plenty of non-animal protein options that convey healthfulness without screaming “vegetarian”. Ethnic cuisines are great sources for inspiration – Mexican bean dishes, Indian dal, or even Portobello burgers are good places to start.

Why do this? Offering meatless dishes makes your food truck an option for parties that include vegetarian or vegan diners, which is important because that audience is growing. Ten years ago, it might have seemed like a fad, with just a small population, but it’s been constantly increasing.

Focus on freshness

Let’s face it: if burgers and fries are staples at your food truck, your customers probably won’t be excited to see quinoa pilaf show up on the menu. But they might be interested to know that your beef is cooked to order, your French fries are hand-cut on the truck, or your buns are baked fresh daily. Details like these assure customers that you are serving them handcrafted, minimally processed foods, and that’s important even if it doesn’t mean a lower calorie count.

Again… why bother adding healthy items to your menu in the first place? According to the Hudson Institute, it’s good for business! In a 2013 study they found that increasing the number of lower-calorie options significantly increased traffic.

Tis the season that many Americans are looking to start the New Year with a single or group of resolutions to better their lives one way or another. According to studies nearly 90% of American resolutions are based on the improvement of their health. While the idea is not new, there is a movement afoot aimed at changing the way we eat one day a week to help those interested in bettering their health. As we have attempted to do since our inception, Mobile Cuisine Magazine will continue to cover the Meatless Monday’s program for our readers every Monday.

To do our part in supporting Meatless Mondays we believe that sharing information, recipes, and news about vegetarianism and leading a more conscious life overall is beneficial for everyone, vegetarian and omnivore alike. We feel that if you are looking for a new approach for a healthy New Year, Meatless Mondays can be an easy route to follow throughout the year and the beautiful part is that if you are a food truck owner or follower, there are many means in which you can stick to the program from this point forward.

If you are a person who needs information to back up your resolution, we will provide you with a list of some of the benefits that joining this movement will be for you and the planet.

CURB OBESITY:People on low-meat or vegetarian diets have significantly lower body weights and body mass indices. A plant-based diet is a great source of fiber (absent in animal products). This makes you feel full with fewer calories, ie. lower calorie intake and less overeating.

LIVE LONGER:Red and processed meat consumption is associated with increases in total mortality, cancer mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality.

CUT WEEKLY BUDGET: Food prices continue to rise. Current increases are especially sharp in packaged items and meat, which require extra expenses like feed and transportation. Forgoing meat once a week is a great way to cut the weekly budget.

CURB HEALTHCARE SPENDING:Treatment of chronic preventable diseases accounts for 70% of total U.S. healthcare spending. By reducing our risk for these conditions, we can curtail healthcare spending nationwide.